Ratchet also has a fancy spaceship that lets you travel across the universe in style. Space missions have appeared in older games in the series, but dogfighting in A Crack in Time is more exciting and gives you more freedom than previous space ventures. Your movement is restricted to a 2D plane, but you can quickly pull off barrel roles and loop-de-loops, making it easy to evade enemy blasts. You unlock more moves and weapons as you get deeper in the game, and it is certainly fun pelting your foes with heat-seeking missiles or melting them with scalding blasts from a laser burst. However, the crazy weapons and acrobatic moves are never fully utilized because your enemies are so easy to destroy. The enemy squadrons fly in a predictable pattern, firing slow-moving shots that barely damage your powerful shields. It's still pretty fun flipping through space and gunning down space pirates, but more intelligent and diverse enemies could have made these portions really special.
6237602>Ratchet likes destroying things.None
Being able to choose where you want to land is the coolest aspect of space travel. There are inhabited moons all over the galaxy, and you can take a breather on these exotic spots to gun down the locals or navigate a treacherous obstacle course. There are always a few precious collectables tucked away on these spherical worlds, which gives you a tangible reward on top of the pure fun you get from running and shooting. Once you land on these moons, there is one really neat effect where you can look into the sky and see the universe drift lazily overhead. You can see asteroids and enemy ships flying above you, planets floating far off in the distance, and galaxies swirling many light years away. Unfortunately, the camera doesn't always cooperate. Jumping long distances can be disorienting because the view changes so rapidly, which makes the platforming portions slightly more difficult than in other sections. There is also a strange jumping quirk that crops up no matter where you are in the universe. You'll sometimes slam into an invisible wall when trying to leap off a platform, even though there isn't anything blocking your path. It's a small problem that crops up infrequently, but it can be annoying if it results in an unexpected death.
A Crack in Time looks incredible. Every planet and moon you touch down on has its own look, whether it's a molten mess or a serene forest, which makes it a treat to explore every inch of these fantastic locations. The view from outer space is particularly impressive. The many galaxies you travel to have different lighting effects and cosmic bodies that look simply stunning, painting an amazing backdrop to your intergalactic adventure. The Clank levels are the finest looking portions of the game. The training stages take place in a desolate void, with floating televisions showing Clank's memories and shifting platforms molding to your every step. As impressive as the artistic design in A Crack in Time is, the technology is just as important to the overall experience. Landscapes stretch as far as the eye can see, enemies flood the screen, and explosions frequently go off all around you, but the visuals stay smooth, giving you an unhindered view of the gorgeous scenery.
The view from space is impressive.
Even though you can complete the main adventure in less than 10 hours, there are so many side missions and collectibles in A Crack in Time that it can take more than 20 hours to experience everything this great game has to offer. The arena missions are particularly cool; handicaps limit what weapons you can use, which forces you to learn a few new tricks. It's not too difficult to take down a giant monster called Snowball with your full arsenal, but it's a lot more challenging when you're limited to just your wrench. A Crack in Time doesn't drastically change the formula of the series, but that's not a big problem. The core gameplay is still rock solid, and the few tweaks and additions help to differentiate this from previous iterations. The overall pacing has also been greatly improved, focusing on the best moments to keep this adventure fun and rewarding the whole way through. This is the best Ratchet game in years and a great platformer no matter how you look at it.
